Economic sanctions are a major driver of migration and displacement, and especially irregular migration to the US, according to a new research report. 

Researchers at the US based think tank Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) there is growing evidence that economic sanctions — an often-used tool in US foreign policy — are a major driver of migration to the US, particularly from Cuba and Venezuela. 

“Sanctions can have severe, harmful economic and humanitarian consequences for civilians in targeted countries,” the CEPR researchers said, in the report titled ‘Economic Sanctions: A Root Cause of Migration’. 

“The cases of Cuba and Venezuela demonstrate this relationship clearly: the imposition or tightening of sanctions by the US government have, in recent years, fuelled economic crises that in turn have led to record migratory outflows. 

“Addressing migration at its roots will require rethinking US sanctions policy as part of a broader research and policy agenda that considers the role of US foreign policy in fuelling migratory push factors abroad,” they said. 

“Migration occupies a central and divisive place in US politics. Yet rarely is it asked why migrants are compelled to leave their homes in the first place, and what role US foreign policy might play in that decision,” the report said.  

It said economic factors such as household income, employment, national economic conditions and food security are key drivers of migration.

Broad-based sanctions can impede economic growth can trigger or extend recessions and restrict access to critical resources like medicine, food and energy, the report said. 

It can disrupt humanitarian aid and consequently exacerbate poverty, illness and hunger. 

Sanctions can lead to a significant number, in some cases tens of thousands of preventable deaths. 

The researchers cited a first-of-its kind study that found that US-EU sanctions increase emigration from target countries by 22 to 24 percent, on average. 

The CEPR report also said that “migrant flows return to their pre-sanction level once sanctions are lifted.” 

It said the six-decade US embargo of Cuba had severely stunted the nation’s economic growth, with Cuban civilians bearing the brunt of the consequences. 

In 2022, more Cubans than any other nationality except Mexicans, constituted more than ten per cent of all encounters at the US Mexico border, despite Cuba being a small country. 

From 2012 to 2020, Venezuela experienced a 71 per cent in GDP per capita, the largest peacetime contraction of any country in modern history, 

The report says research shows half of this contraction was due to US sanctions and that 4.1 million of the seven million people who have fled Venezuela did so because of sanctions. 

“An alternative vision to migration would critically assess how US foreign policy exacerbates global inequalities and creates conditions that drive migration,” the report said. 

Read the full report: Economic Sanctions: A Root Cause of Migration – CEPR